The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County (3-16-13)

Harrington, J. N., & Jackson, S. (2007). The chicken-chasing queen of Lamar County. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Genre: Picture Book, Children’s Fiction

Age: K-2

Summary: This free-spirited young girl spends lots of time on her grandmother’s farm chasing chickens. She likes to call herself the chicken-chasing queen of Lamar County! She puts her skills to the test and tries everything she can to catch her favorite chicken, Miss Hen. Through her chicken-chasing adventures, and despite Big Mama’s warnings, she tries to outsmart the fastest chicken and ends up finding a little surprise.  

Reflection: I absolutely LOVED the illustrations in this picture book. The bright and colorful collage-type letters and patterns jump out across the page and your eyes have trouble focusing on just one thing. The detailed hen keeps your eyes moving. 

 Even the title uses a collage of cut-out letters to spell it out. The double-spread layout of illustrations dominates the story and the farm setting is integral to the story. The fun and free-spirit of the main character is infectious. The author uses imagery to describe the beauty of the farm and all of the hens, while using tons of onomatopoeia. This book would be a great read aloud for younger children and a great book to use for modeling how to make predictions. Students would love to predict whether or not she will outsmart Miss Hen or what surprise she finds while chasing her. 

My favorite illustration involves the little girl and Miss Hen. They are peaking at each other, one eye closed, while the little girl dreams of all the ways she can outsmart Miss Hen to catch her. I love the suspense at the end of this page that reads, “Keep still. Keep still and then –”